Ukrainian sergeant beaten by his commanders for antiwar position, saved by LPR militiamen

Militiamen of Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) saved the life of the Ukrainian army soldier savagely beaten by commanders for his antiwar views, Lugansk Information Center reported on September 29th.

The junior sergeant of the 28th independent motorized brigade of the Ukrainian army Artyom Krena said that after he was beaten he managed to reach the checkpoint near a bridge over Seversky Donetsk river in the area of Stanitsa Luganskaya village. Directly near the checkpoint he was found unconscious by LPR militiamen and brought to a hospital.

“I was shocked by the fact that I was brought to a hospital. They stitched my wounds, and I received a surgery. I was most surprised by the fact that everyone addressed me politely. We were toldpeople get tortured and killed here,” Krena stressed.

He explained that since the very beginning of his military service the relations between him and commanders were strained, as he was not afraid to express and defend his viewpoint on the situation in Donbass.

“I am not a warrior to fight. And fight against who or what? I just received a call-up paper and had to obey. Evading military service is a criminal offense, and I had no money to pay off. Therefore, I had to serve,” Artem Krena, conscripted as a part of the 6th mobilization, said.

According to him, there are almost no patriotic servicemen left in the Ukrainian army. He noted that the conscripts are literally being held “as hostages by Poroshenko” and have to serve an additional year or longer while waiting for a demobilization decree.

Ukrainian professional soldiers also face a difficult situation, since, quite often, they receive call-up after the termination of their military service. Many of them have to leave the country or change their passports to avoid of being conscripted to the Ukrainian army again.

“We were trained in Lvov region. We were trained by ordinary commanders, while the professional soldiers were trained by foreign instructors. We were not allowed to approach them; we were considered to be expendables. Now, all the Ukrainian soldiers are dreaming to finishing serving their term and go back home. Nobody sees the reasons for this war,” the Ukrainian soldier saved by the LPR militiamen is convinced.